Chapter 442: Song Hong’s Grandson

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After asking Qin Xiaoyao, the Emperor looked at Song Que.

“Since you are Song Que, why did you change your name to Song Rui?” This was a crime of deceiving the Emperor.

At present, the Emperor still had to rely on Marquis Xiaoyao.

Therefore, if this person was really Marquis Xiaoyao’s husband, he would not pursue the matter.

Qin Xiaoyao got ready to explain after listening.

However, before she could speak, Song Que beat her to it.

“Your Majesty…

“Back then, 1 was forcibly taken out of the town with a few students from the Cirrus Loft Academy in Mountain Spring Town. After that, 1 was captured and sent to serve in the army.

“However, we encountered an accident halfway.

“At that time, my group encountered a group of mountain bandits.

“Because the mountain bandits were too fierce, and my group was mostly weak, gentle scholars, we were unable to defeat them. I was forced to fall off the cliff.

“After that, luckily, I didn’t die and was saved by Young Miss Shen Rong. However, 1 have injured my head and lost my previous memories.

“At that juncture, I only remembered that my surname was Song and had forgotten everything else.”

“That was why I took on the name of Song Rui and started a new life.

“To my surprise, I bumped into Marquis Xiaoyao in the capital later.

“When I first met Marquis Xiaoyao, I felt particularly close to her, and I found it hard to suppress my feelings for her.

“It wasn’t until yesterday when 1 slipped and fell that 1 regained my earlier memories.

“I then remembered that 1 am Song Que, the husband that Marquis Xiaoyao has been searching high and low for.” At this point, Song Que turned his head and looked at Qin Xiaoyao again.

His eyes were one again filled with deep affection, and it made everyone present want to facepalm a little.

Was he serious? Amnesia? And the memories only came back yesterday. This guy really could make things up.

Then again, so what if he made it up?

Song Rui… Oh, no. He was Song Que now.

No one could prove that what he said was false.

And based on what he said, his action was really not sufficient to constitute the crime of deceiving the Emperor.

When the Emperor heard this, his expression darkened somewhat.

“Lord Song doesn’t know his own identity, but what about you, Marquis Xiaoyao?

“You can’t say that you are unable to recognize your own husband, can you?” he asked somewhat angrily.

He didn’t believe that he couldn’t get a leverage on Marquis Xiaoyao.

Only then did Qin Xiaoyao withdraw her gaze from Song Que’s face and look at the Emperor.

Thereafter, she bowed to the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, of course, I recognize him.

“But my husband refuses to acknowledge his identity.”

As she spoke, a sorrowful expression appeared on Qin Xiaoyao’s face.

“At that time, I thought that my husband was deliberately not acknowledging me because he was determined to become Minister Shen’s son-in-law.”

Qin Xiaoyao smiled again at this point.

“I only found out later it wasn’t that my husband didn’t want to acknowledge me, but that he was injured and didn’t remember me.

“It was also from then on that I tried to get close to my husband intentionally, trying to find an opportunity to help him recover his memories.

“Fortunately, just yesterday, by some fortuitous chance, my husband actually recovered his memories.”

As she spoke, Qin Xiaoyao turned her head to look at Song Que beside her.

This was yet another scene that made everyone want to facepalm.

The Emperor frowned.

They had really fabricated the story to such an incredible extent.

This fellow Song Que was clearly intentionally planting himself as a mole near Minister Shen.

However, no one knew what kind of enmity he had with Minister Shen.

“Then tell me, what injustice have you two suffered? What grudge do you have against Prime Minister Shen?” the Emperor said.

As long as Marquis Xiaoyao wasn’t on the same side as Jia Kun, there might still be a chance to turn things around.

As for Minister Shen, now that things had progressed to this stage, if the Emperor had to abandon him, then he would do so.

As soon as the Emperor said this, Minister Shen immediately looked at the Emperor sitting high up on the dais.

“Your Majesty!” he shouted.

At this moment, Minister Shen was already in a complete panic.

Whether it was Jia Kun, Marquis Xiaoyao, or Song Que, they all wanted him dead.

If the Emperor refused to save him, he would really be finished.

The Emperor glanced at Minister Shen and a hint of irritation flashed across his eyes.

“The innocent will be exonerated. If you didn’t do those harmful things, you don’t have to be afraid of being exposed.”

Minister Shen finally did not say anything more.

He only turned his head to look at Song Que and stared at him so hard that it seemed as if his eyes could bore a hole through Song Que.

He trusted Song Que so much that he even wanted to marry two of his daughters one after another to him and hand the future of the Shen family to him.

Yet, in reality, Song Que was a liar.

He was a venomous snake lurking beside Minister Shen, getting ready to take the latter’s life.

Now that Minister Shen thought back to everything that had happened after he met Song Que, he realized that many things were too coincidental.

Yet, he had been so careless that he had overlooked everything.

Qin Xiaoyao and Song Que looked at each other.

Qin Xiaoyao then bowed to the Emperor and said, “I shall let my husband explain this matter.”

The Emperor nodded.

Only then did Song Que take a step forward.

“Your Majesty, my name is Song Que. My real identity is the grandson of the former Prime Minister Song Hong.”

As soon as he said this, the entire place was in an uproar.

Minister Shen’s eyes widened, and he staggered, almost losing his balance.

Empress Jia, who was beside the Emperor, also almost swayed.

She stared straight at Song Que.

Song Que? Song Hong?

No wonder when Empress Jia looked at Song Que, she felt a faint sense of familiarity.

Although this person didn’t quite look like his grandfather, his bearing was somewhat similar.

Song Hong was a capable official who could stabilize the country and also a literary giant of his generation.

Unfortunately, he was too stubborn and inflexible, and he objected to the Emperor making her the Empress. He was always opposing Empress Jia.

Back then, she had no choice but to let Shen Hongyu frame Song Hong in order to get rid of the latter.

After that, Shen Hongyu took his place and became the Prime Minister.

It had been more than ten years since the incident. She had always thought that Song Hong’s matter had been dealt with very thoroughly. Who would have thought…

When she thought of this, Empress Jia looked at Minister Shen.

A trace of bitterness flashed across Minister Shen’s eyes.

Song Hong’s descendant had come looking for him. He… was finished…

When Empress Jia saw his reaction, her body instantly felt a little weak.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and leaned back on the chair.

The Emperor hadn’t noticed this situation. When he heard Song Que claiming to be Song Hong’s grandson, his eyes were filled with somewhat conflicting emotions.

Song Hong, one of the key ministers left behind by the late emperor to help in running the country, was once his Imperial tutor and served as his teacher.

At that time, his Emperor father had passed away and he had just ascended the throne, so he was very dependent on Song Hong.

However, he was still young at that time and his temperament had not settled down.

Gradually, he began to dislike being controlled by others.

It was also from then on that he gradually distanced himself from Song Hong.

After that, he met the love of his life, who was his current empress, and he wanted to make her his empress.

However, Song Hong firmly opposed it.

Not only did he oppose it, but he also colluded with the courtiers to force him not to make the woman he liked his empress.

In order to get rid of that kind of life where he was always controlled by others, the young Emperor was determined to deal with Song Hong.

Later on, Song Hong was really suppressed.

There was even someone who reported that he had taken bribes and perverted the law, selling official positions and offering titles of nobility for money.

The person who reported Song Hong was the current Minister Shen.

At that time, the young Emperor was determined to punish Song Hong. Even though there were many suspicious points in the case, he still convicted Song Hong.

The Emperor thought that the dust had settled on this matter.

To his surprise, after so many years, Song Hong’s grandson actually appeared before him. He even wanted to help reverse the verdict in his grandfather’s case.

Song Hong… Song Hong…

Even though it had been almost twenty years, the Emperor still couldn’t forget that person.

This was particularly so in recent years when his health was not as good as before.

Occasionally, he would dream of his teacher to whom he owed so much.

He dreamed that his teacher reprimanded him in the court for violating the etiquette of the ancestors, and scolded him for allowing lust to overwhelm his wisdom.

Besides the Emperor and the others who were shocked, Jia Kun and all the civil and military officials were also extremely astounded..